Senator John McCain's campaign will look back on this as a terrible day and a major one in what seems to be an incredible one-week meltdown that will certainly lead to a bump in the polls for the already leading Democratic Senator Barack Obama.
Former Senator and McCain Advisor Phil Gramm made a comment that's caught fire. Everyone's having a field day with what Phil Gramm said. Former Senator Gramm seems to think that Americans should just shut up and take the fact of the worstening economy without comment:
“You’ve heard of mental depression; this is a mental recession,” Gramm, a former Texas senator, told the newspaper, adding that the presumptive Republican nominee will face an uphill battle fighting those perceptions.
“We have sort of become a nation of whiners,” he said. “You just hear this constant whining, complaining about a loss of competitiveness, America in ‘decline’ despite a major export boom that is the primary reason that growth continues in the economy.”
This didn't miss the eye of "RaisingKaine"'s Lowell, who writes Yeah, Sen. McCain, you certainly were correct when you said you didn't know much about economics!
The comment by Senator Gramm did not miss the eye of Senator Barack Obama. The Presumptive Democratic Nominee said "We already have one Dr. Phil" referring to the television star therapist.
Meanwhile, Senator McCain, facing yet another reason to get mad at someone, which he's proven he's good at, immediately threw McCain under the bus, banishing him to Belarus. According to Fox News Mosheh Oinounou...
“I don’t agree with Senator Gramm. I believe that the person here in Michigan that just lost his job isn’t suffering a ‘mental recession.’ I believe the mother here in Michigan and around America who is trying to get enough money to educate their children isn’t ‘whining,’” McCain told reporters today. “America is in great difficulty and we are experiencing enormous economic challenges as well as others. Phil Gramm does not speak for me. I speak for me. So, I strongly disagree.”
McCain has previously said that “no one is more qualified” on economic issues than Gramm, who serves a national campaign co-chair, but made clear today that he was unhappy with the former Texas senator when asked if Gramm would have a role in a future McCain administration.
“I think Senator Gramm would be in serious consideration for ambassador to Belarus, although I’m not sure the citizens of Minsk would welcome that,” McCain said.
For his part, and I think this is the most damaging to McCain, Senator Gramm stood by his remarks. "I'm not going to retract any of it. Every word I said was true," Gramm said.
Wow.
I guess Senator Gramm wants to stick it to Senator McCain. Sure looks that way, yes? On top of that, Senator McCain looked totally uncomfortable in the way he ducked a question about Viagra and health care. More on that soon.
